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French President Emmanuel Macron hosts ministers from 70 countries in Paris to try to coordinate a crackdown of financing

Participants attend a round table with international delegations at a conference to discuss ways of cutting funding to groups including Islamic State and al Qaeda.
Photo:
PHILIPPE WOJAZER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

PARIS—President Emmanuel Macron called ministers from over 70 countries to Paris on Thursday in an effort to coordinate a crackdown on new terror-financing methods that French officials say pose a growing threat to global security.

Justice and finance ministers gathered at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris to look for ways to gather and share intelligence on how terrorist organizations like Islamic State and al Qaeda collect, move and store the finances that sustain them.

“It is the lifeblood of the war. It is essential to look at this very seriously and pre-empt the changes taking place,” Paris prosecutor François Molins, who handles terror investigations in France, said on French radio Thursday.

Governments face an increasingly complex challenge tracking terror finance because of the
changing technology of transactions. France will push delegates at the conference to look for ways to better identify users of prepaid cards and electronic wallets and strengthen regulation of crowdfunding websites that are increasingly used by terror groups.

There are also “high risks” associated with the transfers by mobile telephone because it is hard to identify recipients of funds, French officials said.

France says the large sums of money in circulation could spark
a resurgence of terrorist organizations
despite the military collapse of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Islamic State is estimated to have had revenues of around €1 billion a year between 2014 and 2017, and is now seeking ways to amass small international donations, French officials say.

“The successes in Syria and Iraq might make us think we are confronted with a declining threat, but the reality is very different,” an advisor to Mr. Macron said.

“It feels like we are in a sprint because there is a sophistication of instruments,” the advisor said.

The closed-door conference, dubbed “No Money for Terror,” began Wednesday with talks between some 450 terror finance experts and intelligence officials, and will conclude later Thursday with a public speech from Mr. Macron.

Mr. Macron, who returned earlier
from a three-day U.S. state visit, is pushing for a more multilateral approach. French officials hope delegates will sign up to a joint declaration that could be submitted to international organizations including the United Nations.

“I am optimistic that the discussions over the coming days will mobilize new efforts in the fight against terrorism,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is attending the event.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and head of the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim are also attending.

Delegates will also examine how tracking transactions can be used to gather intelligence and anticipate possible attacks. Paris prosecutors working with financial investigators to track transactions in recent years have identified 416 donors on French soil and 320 recipients in Turkey and Libya, helping them identify jihadists who traveled to Iraq and Syria or those who are now looking to return to France.

Most middle eastern countries are represented at the conference, with the notable exception of Iran. Iran is on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental group of 37 that combats money laundering and terror financing. French organizers also refused to invite Iran amid tensions between Tehran and Arab states.